In an AP interview in Portland, Olympia Snowe outlines her preference for the so called “trigger” option that would introduce a public plan into health care reform that only takes effect if private insurance fails to deliver affordable coverage. Yes, it is a bit foggy on the Maine coast this summer but it ought to be clear that private insurance has failed already. We need the fix now. We need Maine citizens served now with substantive and effective health care reform. Senator Snowe, pull the trigger today!
The Senator is very concerned about the financial health of private insurers and being fair to them. The unfettered market that they have enjoyed in the last decades already gave them their chance. The health of Maine citizens needs to be Olympia’s focus. Senator Snowe, pull the trigger today!
Olympia even recognizes the problem by stating: “I don’t think we can entirely depend on the private insurance market to deliver. They haven’t delivered thus far, and that’s why we’re in the predicament we’re in today.” We expect that seeing a problem would result in firm action by our elected representatives. Senator Snowe, pull the trigger today!
Olympia touts getting a bipartisan bill and preaches compromise to get the broadest support possible. That lack of broad support seems to exist only in the United States Senate. There is broad reform support in the public as indicated by the 72% in a recent New York Times/CBS poll. And whether we like it or not, democrats have supported the Senator, so she has bi-partisan support here in Maine. Senator Snowe, pull the trigger today!
Olympia is concerned that “…the public option will have significant price advantages.” Of course that is the very advantage consumers want! The “trigger” option is designed to postpone publically funded options in favor of trusting private insurance to control costs. This delaying tactic allows special interests to eventually defeat true reform. It places trust where it ought not. Senator Snowe, pull the trigger today!
Contact Olympia Snowe’s office; use the above points and your own concerns. Tell her you support a public option. And if like me your original preference was for a single-payer plan, tell her the public option now is the compromise, no compelling reasons exist for further concessions. It’s time to represent, not equivocate.
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It took two weeks for the letter version of this post to get published in the Kennebec Journal.
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/view/letters/6567863.html
I always struggle with a concern that my "letters to the editor" might be outdated.
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